Research

Fiona's particular research interests include acquired brain injury, visual field evaluation, strabismus and control of ocular alignment and motility. Research projects include chief investigator for a national multi-centre prospective trial on the visual consequences of stroke (VIS), chief investigator for the VISION trial (funded by the Stroke Association), chief investigation for the IVIS study (funded by the NIHR) and chief investigator for the SEARCH trial (funded by Fight for Sight and Stroke Association). Other projects include evaluating the impact of knowledge of visual impairment to the treatment choices made by therapists in the care of stroke patients, comparison of therapy options for hemianopic visual field loss, evaluation of ward based visual impairment assessment and the comparison of static and kinetic perimetry strategies.
Fiona would be pleased to hear from potential PhD students interested in research in the above areas.

VISION research unit

The VISION group evaluates visual impairment in acquired brain injury and neurological conditions, explores and develops outcome measures in orthoptics, and seeks to explore the complexity of co-existent visual and functional impairments.
We undertake mixed methods research (evidence synthesis, quantitative statistics, qualitative analysis) to evaluate visual impairment following brain injury such as stroke, pituitary lesions, idiopathic intracranial hypertension and brain trauma in a range of settings and explore diagnostic accuracy and patient-reported or clinician-focused outcome measures.
In particular we focus on:
-Screening for visual impairment in at risk populations
-Choice and accuracy of diagnostic techniques
-Visual rehabilitation
-Impact of visual impairment to daily life
-Care and service provision
-Health inequalities and unmet needs

Research groups

British and Irish Orthoptic Society

Research grants

NIHR Oxford Brain Health Biomedical Research Centre - Data Science Theme

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

December 2022 - November 2027

Oxford Cognitive Screen - Visual Impairment adaptation

FIGHT FOR SIGHT (UK)

December 2022 - December 2024

201575671 Fahad Al Harshan - research fees

ROYAL EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA CULTURAL BUREAU IN LONDON (UK)

September 2021 - September 2025

Norwegian Vision in Stroke network (NorVIS)

THE RESEARCH COUNCIL OF NORWAY (NORWAY)

October 2019 - December 2025

Hemianopia Activity-Based InTervention (HABIT): refining and operationalising a rehabilitation intervention for visual field loss after stroke (HABIT)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

October 2019 - November 2021

NIHR ARC 2 national social care implementation projects

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK), LCCG - LIVERPOOL CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP (UK)

October 2019 - March 2026

What factors influence adaptation to post stroke homonymous hemianopia?

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

April 2016 - March 2020

Programme choice for Perimetry in Neurological conditions (PoPiN)

LCCG - LIVERPOOL CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP (UK)

March 2018 - April 2019

Programme choice for Perimetry in Neurological conditions (PoPiN)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

September 2017 - March 2019

Effectiveness of vision screening by paramedics for detection of visual impairment in posterior circulation stroke

NORTH WEST AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST (UK)

April 2017 - June 2018

Structural and functional brain imaging as an early predictor of rehabilitative success in ‘scanning training’ for patients with hemianopia (visual field defects) - Bench Fees Abdulrahman Aloufi

ROYAL EMBASSY OF SAUDI ARABIA CULTURAL BUREAU IN LONDON (UK)

November 2016 - December 2021

Online Vision Research Search Resource

NORTH WEST SPECIALISED COMMISSIONING TEAM (UK)

May 2007 - April 2008

Modified attention fields in ageing.

ROYAL LIVERPOOL AND BROADGREEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST (UK)

April 2001 - March 2002

Searching for and evaluation of medical literature

NHS NORTH WEST (UK)

January 2008 - December 2008

A pilot RCT to compare the clinical and cost effectiveness of prism glasses, visual search training and standard care in patients with hemianopia following stroke

STROKE ASSOCIATION (UK)

December 2010 - June 2015

Effectiveness of Visual Rehabilitation for Stroke Survivors with Homonymous Hemianopia

WARRINGTON AND HALTON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTS (UK)

February 2010 - September 2012

Impact of Visual Impairment after Stroke (IVIS)

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

January 2013 - December 2017

Use of botulinum toxin as an alternative treatment option for strabismus. Proprioception alterations following botulinum toxin.

WARRINGTON HOSPITAL NHS TRUST

September 2005 - August 2006

Assessment of Behavioural Vision using Combined Field and Discrimination Tasks.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

September 2002 - August 2005

Visual search training options for homonymous hemianopia visual field loss

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE (UK)

January 2012 - January 2013

Care provision, unmet need and good practice in post-stroke vision services in the UK.

STROKE ASSOCIATION (UK), THOMAS POCKLINGTON TRUST (UK)

July 2013 - July 2016

Research collaborations

Sophie Wuerger

Christopher Kennard

University of Oxford

Marion Walker

University of Nottingham

Woody Caan

Royal Society

Emma Bedson

VISION trial

Rumona Dickson

Elizabeth Perkins

Jonathon Holmes

Mayo Clinic

Clare Thetford

Marta Garcia-Finana

Rachel Breen

Avril Drummond

University of Nottingham

Alex Pollock

Glasgow Caledonian University